Respuestas
Benedict Arnold (1741-1801) was an early American hero of the Revolutionary War (1775-83) who later became one of the most infamous traitors in U.S. history after he switched sides and fought for the British. At the outbreak of the war, Arnold participated in the capture of the British garrison of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775. In 1776, he hindered a British invasion of New York at the Battle of Lake Champlain. The following year, he played a crucial role in bringing about the surrender of British General John Burgoyne’s (1722-92) army at Saratoga. Yet Arnold never received the recognition he thought he deserved. In 1779, he entered into secret negotiations with the British, agreeing to turn over the U.S. post at West Point in return for money and a command in the British army. The plot was discovered, but Arnold escaped to British lines. His name has since become synonymous with the word “traitor.”
When the Revolutionary War broke out between Great Britain and its 13 American colonies in April 1775, Arnold joined the Continental Army. Acting under a commission from the revolutionary government of Massachusetts, Arnold partnered with Vermont frontiersman Ethan Allen (1738-89) and Allen’s Green Mountain Boys to capture the unsuspecting British garrison at Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York on May 10, 1775. Later that year, Arnold led an ill-fated expedition on a harrowing trek from Maine to Quebec. The purpose of the expedition was to rally the inhabitants of Canada behind the Patriot cause and deprive the British government of a northern base from which to mount strikes into the 13 colonies. With the enlistments of many of his men expiring on New Year’s Day, Arnold had no choice but to launch a desperate attack against well-fortified Quebec City through a blizzard on December 31, 1775. Early in the battle, Arnold received a grave wound to his leg and was carried to the back of the battlefield. The assault continued, but failed miserably. Hundreds of American soldiers were killed, wounded or captured, and Canada remained in British hands.